'It's not done' - Arsenal back up Rice's words with crucial win

Pictures of Declan Rice saying "it's not done" went viral in the aftermath of Arsenal's defeat by Manchester City last week - and the Gunners proved him right by putting the pressure back on their rivals in the Premier League title race.

Eberechi Eze's excellent strike was enough to secure a crucial 1-0 win over Newcastle to move them three points clear of Manchester City in the opening exchanges of what, after the loss to Pep Guardiola's side last week, Mikel Arteta called "a new league".

And now it is advantage Arsenal after "game one".

"I'm really happy for the win," Arteta said. "We talked about 'game one' and how important that was. We did the job.

"We had to do what was in our hands and we discussed that.

"Game one is in our hands, what we do and how we approach the game. Are we able to win it? We've done it. We wanted bigger margins. It's not been possible but we certainly have done the job."

City's win over Burnley in midweek meant Arsenal slipped to second place for the first time since October, with the two teams level on points and goal difference but Guardiola's side top by virtue of goals scored.

That put a huge amount of pressure on an Arsenal side coming into the game with Newcastle after back-to-back defeats for the first time this season. The relief of ending that run with victory was visible as players fell to the floor on hearing the final whistle.

And looking ahead to the four league games to go, Arteta said he was ready to deal with the pressure of attempting to end the club's long wait for the title.

"I don't expect, after 22 years of not winning it, that it's going to be a path of roses and beautiful music around it," he said. "It's going to be like this and we are ready for it."

Arsenal will move six points clear of Manchester City if they beat Fulham in their home game next week, though City will have two games in hand.

That is because City were playing Southampton in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday and are not back in league action until 4 May, when they play Everton.

Having that buffer of points by the time of City play would be a huge boost for Arteta's side.

According to Opta, Arsenal have a 72.44% chance of lifting the Premier League trophy at the end of the season, with City on 27.56%.

"Arsenal have given absolutely everything on that pitch," former Crystal Palace and Brighton striker Glenn Murray said on BBC Radio 5 Live. "You can't question their fight."

Arsenal are without a major trophy since the FA Cup triumph of 2020, which came in Arteta's first season in charge.

And captain Martin Odegaard said the effort the players put in is because every member of the team is doing what they can to get over the line.

"It was tough, very intense, very physical," he told Sky Sports. "We did everything we could and we got the win. The most important thing was to bounce back with a win and get over the line with the three points."

For Odegaard, who played the full 90 minutes, and the rest of the squad, attention quickly switches to the Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

"This schedule is crazy," Odegaard added. "We just have to keep going. It is the end of the season, just leave everything out that we have inside, fight every single game and we just have to keep going.

"That's where we want to be but it is going to go all the way to the end. We are ready for it and we will fight every single day."

This was not a perfect Arsenal performance.

The Gunners had an xG of just 0.64 against Newcastle - their second-lowest in a Premier League game at Emirates this season. The lowest (0.57) came in a 0-0 draw against Liverpool in January.

There were desperate scenes towards the end of the game as the Gunners did everything they could to defend their goal, and they were almost punished late on when substitute Yoanne Wissa fired over from close range.

The effort took a toll.

Kai Havertz went off in the first half with a muscular problem, and Eze had to be withdrawn after the break with a similar issue, though Arteta said he hoped the pair would be available for Wednesday.

The Gunners' attack did not click once Viktor Gyokeres was brought on to replace Havertz - not that they were creating freely before the German's injury.

Instead, Arsenal needed a moment of magic from Eze to get them over the line.

Since the start of the 2022-23 season, Eze's 10 goals from outside the penalty area are more than any other player in the Premier League.

With at least six matches to go, the Gunners will have to juggle resources. As they tried to see out the match here, Arteta brought on Myles Lewis-Skelly in midfield for Martin Zubimendi, who had been suffering with illness.

Lewis-Skelly has mainly played for the first team at left-back but came through the Gunners academy as a midfielder.

With results the most important thing at this point of the campaign, Arteta is doing whatever he can to lead his side to silverware.